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Ian McEwan
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Book
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Publisher | Vintage | ||
ISBN | 978-009927709 | ||
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Reviewer
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Gareth
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Synopsis
The setting is Berlin. Into this divided city, wrenched between East and West, between past and present; comes twenty-five-year-old Leonard Marnham, assigned to a British-American surveillance team.Though only a pawn in an international plot that is never fully revealed to him, Leonard uses his secret work to escape the bonds of his ordinary life - and to lose his unwanted innocence. The promise of his new life begins to be fulfilled as Leonard becomes a crucial part of the surveillance team, while simultaneously being initiated into a new world of love and sex by Maria, a beautiful young German woman. It is a promise that turns to horror in the course of one terrible evening - a night when Leonard Marnham learns just how much of his innocence he's willing to shed.
Review
There's a controlled detachment in Ian McEwan's writing that allows the reader to be privy to the thoughts and feelings of the characters in minutiae without actually being involved in them - it's almost an impassionate read. The style, to me, is reminiscent of John Fowles, and can be utterly captivating.
For a story set in the midst of the cold war, this is not so much a spy story rather looking at the consequences of the unforeseen, and what happens when Leonard Manham strays too far away from his comfort zone.
Though not as enthralling as On Chesill Beach, which I found fascinating, this is still a really good read and will not disappoint fans of McEwans work.
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